Some Flames
by Georgy-Girl
Summary: Co-written with BethSHeartbeat. Max has a new girlfriend and a new job, but when he returns to Holby to begin divorce proceedings, he realises he hasn't quite moved on.
1. Chapter 1

"Are you sure you want me to come?" Holly asked as she watched Max throw his stuff into the suitcase on the bed in front of him.

"Why wouldn't I?" Max asked his girlfriend as he continued to pull clothes out of his wardrobe.

"Because you're going back to divorce your wife." Holly pointed out. For 10 months Max had been living in Birmingham and for 6 of those he'd been dating Holly.

"Don't call her that. She'll be nothing in a few weeks." Max stated, feeling the pain hit him at the mention of Zoe.

"But-" Holly began, but she was cut off by Max, as she always was when she tried to talk about Zoe.

"Look, if you don't want to come then don't come. I've asked you to, but I'm not going to beg." He pushed the last of his clothes into the bag.

"Ok, ok. I'll come. When do we need to leave?"

"Half an hour." Max supplied, grabbing his cigarette pack from the nightstand.

"Okay, I'll nip home and pack a case. Pick me up as you drive past." Holly told him as she pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before she grabbed her keys and left. As Max heard the front door of his flat close, he flopped back against the bed. He hadn't been in Holby since he'd left 10 months ago, and in that time he'd had no contact with Zoe, but from what Robyn had told him, nothing had changed.

* * *

"Max is bringing his girlfriend. Is the spare room made up? Is it tidy?" Robyn fussed around as she did her best to make the living room look presentable.

"Yes and yes." Lofty replied as he trudged through to the kitchen and put the kettle on.

"Good, because I want to make a good impression on Holly. She's a lawyer." Robyn told him, proud that her brother was moving on with his life.

"I know. Neither of us have met her Robyn, it's weird that you know so much." Lofty pointed out as he put the milk into his drink and the one he was making for Robyn.

"Well Max barely says anything about her so I had to stalk her Facebook and Twitter."

Lofty grinned at this. "You're terrible, Robyn. When will they be here?"

As Lofty asked the question, the front door was pushed open and a familiar voice called out, "I'M HOME, BITCHES!"

As Lofty rolled his eyes, Robyn ran for the front door and pulled her brother into a hug. "I've missed you! Where is she?"

"Nice. I don't see you for almost a year and you're more interested in who I've brought with me."

"No, I-" Robyn began.

"She's just on the phone to her mum in the car. She won't be a minute, we're parched though."

"Shall I stick the kettle on or open a bottle?" Lofty asked as Robyn stood in the door, watching the car in the dark for any glimpse of Max's girlfriend.

"Probably a bottle." Max replied to Lofty, slapping his shoulder in greeting before he turned back to his sister. "Don't scare her off before she's even got out of the car. You're her first impression of Holby." Max laughed. He was trying to cover up his feelings with jokes, his pain at being back in the house where he'd once lived with Zoe was eating him up inside. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't forget her, despite wanting nothing less than to forget her existence.

As the passenger door to the car opened, Robyn stood back from the front door slightly, not wanting to be thought of as weird by her brother's girlfriend. As the rays of the streetlight hit Holly, it became immediately obvious that despite her profile pictures on social networks, that she looked quite similar to Zoe.

Holly approached the door hesitantly, but when she saw Robyn she gave a smile. "You must be Robyn, it's lovely to meet you."

As his sister and Lofty met Robyn, Max went up to his old room. Standing in the doorway, he imagined the room as it used to be- Zoe would be in bed grumbling about having to work an early, but as soon as he walked into the room with coffee, her face would light up. She'd tell him he knew her so well, and then after he'd put the coffee down she'd pull him back to bed.

"Is this our room?" Holly's question pulled Max from his thoughts.

"Ah, yeah. Just put your stuff...over there." He motioned to the chair that still sat in the corner. Zoe had brought that chair to put her clothes on, insisting everywhere else was too messy.

"Your sister seems... Nice." Holly smiled as she searched for the right word

"She's a little over excitable." Max replied from his position in the doorway.

"Well she's probably missed you. You haven't seen her since you left here, baby." Holly reminded her as she gently removed her high heels and placed them underneath the chair where all her stuff was.

* * *

"Lofty, is it just me or..." Robyn began as she topped up her own wine glass.

"Yes."

"You don't know the question yet."

"I know what you're going to ask. Yes, she does look like Zoe." Lofty supplied the answer to the question that Robyn was still yet to ask.

"Thank god, I thought it was just me."

"If you've seen her Facebook profile, how have you missed this tiny detail?"

"I don't know. People look different in photos. In photos you look all manly but in reality-" Robyn stopped with a laugh as Lofty threw a cushion at her.

A moment later, both frowned as the front doorbell rang.

"Expecting anyone?" Lofty asked.

As Robyn shook her head, she approached the door and pulled it open. "...Zoe."


	2. Chapter 2

"Hi. Look, I just wanted to apologize for how I treated you today. It was…unprofessional. I was just having a bad day, but that's no excuse for yelling at you in front of everyone."

"I...it..."

As Robyn stumbled over her words, a voice called from the top of the stairs. "Right! Time for a drink, and then you two can tell us all the juicy gossip."

"Max?" Zoe whispered quietly from where she stood on the doorstep as Max froze half way down the stairs where he could see Zoe. "Erm, I'll see you tomorrow Robyn. I'm sorry for interrupting." Zoe spoke as she felt her heart pounding as she saw her estranged husband.

Holly hadn't noticed that Max was still rooted to the spot as she walked into the living room, leaving Robyn to say goodbye to Zoe.

"She was pretty." Holly commented.

"She works at the hospital and she was just here to apologise for being rude earlier." Lofty explained.

"I'm just going for a cigarette." Max finally spoke as he moved from the stairs and walked out of the front door.

* * *

As she got back into the car, Zoe rested her head against the steering wheel while she tried to calm her heart and the ache in her stomach. Jealousy bubbled in her at the thought of the woman who she assumed was Max's new girlfriend.

* * *

Max tried to light his cigarette, his hands shaking. He'd expected to feel so many things when he saw Zoe- hatred, sadness, anger- but he had been surprised by the overwhelming feeling of love he still had, and the desire to just pull her into his arms.

* * *

In her car, Zoe looked down at her left hand. When she was having a bad day, she would slip on her wedding ring, and at least for a while she'd feel more in control.

* * *

Max dropped the lighter and swore, bending to pick it up before shaking it. The stupid thing had run out of lighter fluid. Frustrated, he threw it angrily into the bushes.

The confusion he felt was overwhelming; he wasn't quite sure what to do. In his head he knew that he should go back inside and act normally with Holly and his family, but his heart cried out for Zoe. As he bent down to sit on the doorstep, his eyes rested upon Zoe's car, which was still sat in front of the house. Despite the darkness, Max could still just about make out her figure leaning against the steering wheel. What was obvious was that she still hurt just as much as he did.

* * *

"I'll just go and check on Max." Robyn piped up when Max had been gone for a few minutes.

"Not even he can mess up having a cigarette." Holly laughed.

"You know the person who was at the door?" Lofty interrupted, and finally Holly stopped laughing. Realising that perhaps this was serious, she nodded slowly.

"That was Zoe."


	3. Chapter 3

Max took a few steps towards Zoe's car, unable to stop himself.

Inside the car, Zoe finally sat back and wiped some tears from her face. She took a deep breath in but it caught in her throat when she saw Max stood by her door.

"Got a light?" Max asked.

"Max..." Zoe whispered softly, unable to take her eyes off him for fear that he'd disappear if she did.

"Have you got a lighter?" He asked again.

"Oh, erm yeah." She replied as she bent down to reach for her handbag where her lighter was housed. "What are you doing back?" She asked, finally trusting herself to speak properly.

"Just visiting." He replied, suddenly not able to tell her that his original plan was to come back and get divorced.

"And the date had nothing to do with it?" She asked quietly. She was well aware that a year ago she'd been on her hens night and making the biggest mistake of her life.

"I was trying not to think about it." Max took the lighter from her and lit his cigarette.

"…I've missed you." Zoe said softly, glancing at him before staring at her steering wheel again. "I may have lost my husband, but I also lost my best friend, and I-"

"Max!" Robyn called from the front doorway before making her way out, closely followed by Holly. "Max, come inside. Lofty has made dinner, and you know what he's like about timing. He'll throw it out if we don't get back in there."

When Zoe looked up at Max, his eyes were still focused on hers.

"I'm coming." Max called to Robyn, turning slightly to see that Holly was to beside her. As Robyn reluctantly made her way back inside, Holly stayed but a few steps away from Max. "I guess I don't need that lighter after all." He laughed slightly as he handed it back, his hand softly brushing Zoe's as he placed it in her hand. The electricity he still felt when he touched her hardly surprised him, but made turning around so much harder.

"Keep it, I have plenty at home." Zoe replied and handed it back.

"I guess I'll see you around. Bye, Zoe."

As he turned back to his front door and heard the car pull away behind him, he found himself instantly aching with loss. Once again he felt the rush of emotion that he felt after their wedding day, but he couldn't deny the love he still felt for his wife.

"Are you alright?" Holly put a hand on his back, and Max jumped, imagining for a moment it was Zoe.

"Ah, yeah. Fine."

"...She's pretty."

Max gave a distracted nod, and then went through to the kitchen where he spent the next hour pushing food around his plate. Finally sick of watching her brother mope, Robyn spoke up. "Why don't you go out for a walk, Max? Clear your head? We'll look after Holly. I've got all your baby photos ready to embarrass you."

"Yeah okay, fresh air will do me some good."

"Are you sure you don't want me to come?" Holly asked, feeling put out by the fact that Max was distracted by another woman and was making little effort with her.

"Yeah, I just need a little space. I won't be long." Max smiled and placed a gentle kiss to her cheek as he pulled his coat on and headed out.

* * *

He was desperate to see Zoe once again, to tell her that he still missed her too. As he began to walk to their old flat, he suddenly questioned whether she still lived in the same place. Taking his phone out to text her, he remembered that he'd deleted her number once he'd moved in a failed attempt to delete her from his life.

Panic began to consume him. What if she didn't live there anymore? What if he couldn't find her? What if he could never find her again? His pace quickened. Perhaps if he went to the pub he could find someone there who still had her number or at least knew where she lived.

As he walked it began to rain, and when he finally reached the pub it was pouring.

"Is that who I think it is?" Rita suddenly interrupted the conversation Louise was having with her.

Louise glanced around but didn't recognise Max. "Looks like a drowned rat to me. Another wine, Zoe?"

"Mmm, what?" Zoe asked, her mind going elsewhere the moment that she turned to spot Max at the pub entrance.

"Forget it." Louise sighed.

"I'm just going out for a cigarette." Zoe excused herself and walked out the door, hoping that Max would follow her once he'd noticed.

* * *

Using the old lighter that Max had given her the Christmas before they'd married, she lit her cigarette and waited the couple of minutes for Max to come out.

"What are you doing here?" Zoe asked, still in a state of shock that he'd come looking for her.

"I didn't know if you still lived in the same place." Was all Max had to offer in response.

Zoe paused, her thoughts racing. "I do. I was going to leave, but I could never bring myself to."

Max nodded, pushing his hands deep into his pockets as he stared at the ground.

Finally unable to stand the silence anymore, Zoe went to ask, "Was there something you needed?" As Max blurted, "I miss you, too."

"You don't mean that Max, you have a new girlfriend." Zoe sighed. No matter how much she wanted to convince herself that he meant what he was saying, she knew that it was probably just being in Holby that was making him think of her.

"I do mean that. Yes, I have Holly, and I thought we had something, but then I saw you and all these feelings just drowned me. It's you Zoe."

"Stop. It was me once upon a time and now it's Holly. I'm sure she won't hurt you like I did. It's just being back here. I promise you tomorrow or even the day after that, you'll wonder why you ever came seeking me out- you'll go back to hating me." Zoe told him sadly.

"I never hated you. I hated what you did and I was hurt, but I never stopped loving you."

"Max..."

"Do you think I want to feel this way? I thought I'd moved on- I found a job, somewhere to live, a girlfriend, a whole new set of friends, and I thought I'd got you out of my system, but I can't. It's you. It's always you, Zoe." Max spoke earnestly and reached out to Zoe, but she took a step back.

"Don't." It came out in a whisper.

Max's face suddenly cleared and he stared at her, that too familiar heart broken look on his face. "You don't love me anymore, do you? You don't need me."

"Max, that's not-" Zoe began, but Max had turned from her to begin walking away. "Max!" Zoe tried again and ran to catch up with the fast pace he was using to walk away from her again. "Of course I still love you. Of course I still need you. Of course I still want you, but you're not mine to have anymore." Zoe sighed. She knew that she should have let Max continue to walk, but something inside her knew that she couldn't do that without him knowing just how much he meant to her. "You're all I ever wanted Max, and I screwed that up. Even if you didn't change your mind tomorrow about missing me, I still don't deserve you back."

"You're right, you don't and yet I still want you." Max sighed, reaching out just to touch Zoe's arm, desperate to touch her again and feel the rush of love that only Zoe had ever been able to cause in him.

"Look, how about we go back to mine? You can have a coffee and I still have some of the clothes that you left- you're soaked so you can change. We can talk about things and then you go home, back to your girlfriend."

"And if by the end of it I don't want to go home?" He asked.

"You do it anyway."

Max studied her face for a moment, aching to kiss her, before he finally nodded.


	4. Chapter 4

The drive back to the apartment was done in silence, Max staring out the window wondering what the hell he was doing. Unwilling to let anything interrupt them, he sent Robyn a message to say he'd met up with some old friends and couldn't say no, and to apologise to Holly. He'd expected to feel guilty, but he didn't because all his emotions were focused on Zoe.

When they finally reached the apartment, he shifted his focus to the faulty catch on the door. "You still haven't got this fixed?!"

"Well, I-" Zoe began, then watched in silence as Max walked to the draw where he used to keep screwdrivers so he could fix it himself, his clothes dripping rain onto the carpet.

"Max, stop." Zoe laughed as she grabbed a bottle of wine from the fridge and two glasses.

"It needs fixing, I can't believe you left it this long." Max told her and then too burst out laughing.

"You can fix it, just get changed first. You'll catch a cold and I'm not being responsible for that."

He stood up and walked towards the kitchen, wary that he was wet. "Where are my clothes?" He asked awkwardly, remembering that this wasn't his flat anymore.

"The wardrobe. I haven't been able to move them since you left." Zoe admitted honestly as she took a large gulp of her wine.

"Oh, erm…"

"You can go through."

Max walked into the bedroom, his fingers trailing over all Zoe's clothes in the wardrobe before he came to his. _What am I doing?_ He asked himself again, but as he turned to dress, he spotted an old t-shirt of his lying crumpled on the bed where Zoe had discarded it after wearing it to bed.

On the sofa, Zoe took another gulp of wine and refilled her glass. This was something she had dreamt over so many times, but now it was happening she was wary.

* * *

"All fresh, so you don't need to worry about your carpet anymore." Max emerged a few minutes later, towel drying his hair.

For just a moment she was able to convince herself that the last year hadn't happened, especially as he wandered through to the kitchen and helped himself to a glass of wine.

"So, what have you been up to in the past year?" Max asked, wanting to know if there was anyone else before he continued. The question, however, seemed too casual for the situation in which they found themselves.

"Is that really what you want to ask?" Zoe asked, glancing up at him.

"No." He admitted, causing Zoe to nod slightly.

"So, is there someone?" He asked quietly, half fearing the answer despite him having a girlfriend back at Robyn's.

"No." She told him honestly. "There's been no one since our wedding."

Max noticeably relaxed, and they sat in silence for a short while before he asked, "How is work?"

"Fine. Good. Amazing how easy it is to find a porter these days."

Max nodded, and Zoe was pleased to see a smile on his face. "Nice. Are you saying I didn't do any work?"

"Well I didn't _SAY_ that."

They both laughed before they fell into a comfort all silence.

"I've missed this." Zoe admitted; her nights were all lonely now. Most nights she'd come home straight after work and watch rubbish tv before falling into bed and remembering that she was alone. On a rare occasion, she accepted an invitation to the pub, but she declined so often that those invites were becoming rarer.

"I've missed you." Max tried again, before he moved to the sofa that she was sat on and sat beside her. Zoe could barely think straight as he gently removed the wine glass from her hand and placed it on the floor.

"I've missed you, too." Zoe whispered as Max moved closer and kissed her.

"Max..." Zoe sighed into him, resting her hands to his chest.

Max reached up and tucked hair behind Zoe's ear and then kissed her again. As Zoe's hands began to tighten their grip on Max's t-shirt and the kisses became a little more desperate, Max's phone on the table began to ring loudly.

Max seemed intent on ignoring it and continuing to kiss Zoe. He'd missed a year of being able to do this and had a lot of catching up to do. His phone buzzed into life for the second time, prompting Zoe to pull away from him.

"Answer it, Max. It's clearly important." She ached for the loss of him but as he leant forward he realised who was ringing- Holly.

"Hello?" Max answered, and listened to Holly asking him where he was. Explaining that he was at an old band friend's house and that he'd missed her first call because he'd been in the toilet seemed to satisfy her. As he told her not to wait up and that he'd be back later, she said night and hung up.

"What are we doing Max?" Zoe sighed.

"I know it's been a year but I think you know."

Zoe gave a sad smile and looked down. "You're not mine anymore, Max."

"Since I moved away, I haven't gone one day without thinking about you, Zoe. The more I tried to forget about you, the more I thought about you, that's why I came back. I thought divorcing would make it stop, but then I saw you and I couldn't breathe. Maybe I didn't want you for a while, but I've always needed you, Zoe. And I don't think that will ever stop."

"Think about how hurt you felt after what I did, Max." Zoe reminded him, and saw a pained expression cross his face. "I'm sorry, but think about how I hurt you and now think about what you're doing to your girlfriend."

"Zoe, don't do this. Holly doesn't mean anything to me, I like to think that I meant something to you."

"You did and of course you still do. I love you, Max, and I'd do anything to make this right and start again, but you need to think about what you actually want."

Max sighed and rubbed his face tiredly. "Well, I know what I want right now, and it's making it impossible to think about anything else."

"...Then maybe you should go and think it over." Zoe offered, looking away so she wouldn't have to watch him leave, sure he would change his mind once he stopped thinking of sex.

Max sat awkwardly for a moment before he finally stood and picked up his phone. He left the flat without another word, his wet clothes forgotten.

Zoe sat alone in the same position that she had been before Max had left, everything inside her told her to go after him but she knew not to.


	5. Chapter 5

Max stood in front of the lift, yet to actually press the button to call it. He wanted to turn back, to make Zoe see that he no longer wanted Holly. For a moment he considered his options and then turned back. He was stood back outside the flat about to knock when Zoe opened the door.

"Max?" She asked, surprised to see him outside the door. "I don't want you to go." She admitted.

"I get what you meant though, Zo."

At the shortened use of her name, Zoe's heart gave a flutter and she stepped forward, her worries momentarily forgotten.

Max raised a hand to cup her face, neither of them noticing the lift was moving until the doors opened on their floor and Robyn jumped out. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Max?!"

His eyes were still glued to Zoe's, unable to look away.

"Robyn!" Zoe reacted, shock evident in her voice.

"I knew the moment that you saw Max earlier that you wouldn't keep your hands off him, you manipulative old tart."

"Don't you dare speak to her like that." Max replied angrily as he finally took his eyes off of Zoe. "I went looking for her." He admitted.

"Yeah, because she has you under some sort of spell, she always has. She knows you can't resist and she plays on that." Robyn insisted, still shouting.

"She's not some sort of witch Robyn, she's my wife!"

"Not for long."

"Why are you keeping tabs on me anyway? I'm a grown man." Max asked, intentionally ignoring Robyn's statement about his divorce.

"You know he came here to divorce you? He wanted nothing to do with you until you showed up."

"Robyn, just go." Max urged.

"Not unless you come with me."

Max looked back towards Zoe, unsure what to do.

"Just go Max." Zoe sighed. Deep down she'd known that what they were doing now couldn't end happily, and although she'd known inside that he'd come back to divorce her, the admission had floored her.

"I don't want to go." Max insisted.

"You heard her Max." Robyn reminded him. "Let's go."

"How about you listen to what I want? I want to stay with Zoe. Now, we can discuss this in her flat or you can go home and wait for me to come home in a couple of hours." Max finally snapped. Robyn looked at him warily and then looked back to Zoe, who seemed just as confused at what was going on as she was.

Max looked earnestly towards Zoe, wanting her to tell him to stay, but she just looked down at the floor.

"At least think it over, Max. Come home, away from her influence and we can talk about it."

"Zoe." Max said her name softly, willing her to look at him, but she seemed mesmerized by a spot on the carpet.

"She's right- you need to think this over away from me." She told him softly as her gaze remained on the same spot of the carpet.

"If you're sure." He sighed, silently admitting defeat as Robyn smiled.

"Let's go Max."

* * *

Max had been gone just over half an hour and in that time she still hadn't managed to stop the tears from spilling down her face. Reaching for her phone, she found Max's name and typed a message, hoping that his number was still the same.

 _Zoe: I'm sorry about that. You know I love you, but you need to think this over properly whilst I'm not there. Think about Holly, think about what you want with your life and then think about who can give you that. If you decide its me, then you know where I am, and we can face everything that comes as a result of that decision together. If not, then we'll get divorced and I'll keep away and let you be happy. The ball is completely in your court Max._

* * *

When they got home, Robyn just glared at Max. "Holly, your girlfriend, has gone to bed."

Sighing, Max made his was slowly upstairs. He'd had set plans when he arrived- he was going to divorce Zoe and get on with his life- but as soon as he saw her he knew he'd made a mistake. He also knew how much it hurt when Zoe cheated on him, and while he hadn't technically cheated on Holly, he would have if he hadn't been stopped. Perhaps he owed it to her to forget Zoe.

"I thought you'd be gone way longer!" Holly smiled at Max as he entered the bedroom.

"I remembered what a bunch of idiots my friends were. I'm just going for a shower."

By the time he got out of the shower, he found that Holly had fallen asleep in the centre of the bed, like Zoe had used to do. After the night he'd had, he couldn't quite bring himself to get into bed, so instead he grabbed his phone and headed downstairs.

As he sat on the sofa, he quietly watched late night TV, being careful not to wake anyone else in the house. His phone the alerted him to an unopened text from earlier in the evening, from a number that wasn't in his phone. Upon opening it, he discovered that it was in fact Zoe who had messaged him. He typed out a reply but immediately deleted it and placed his phone down with a sigh. He'd known that coming back would be hard, but he'd never expected this.

The TV was more background noise now for his thoughts as he tried to figure out what he wanted. Each time it came back to Zoe.

Finally he searched his phone for photos of Zoe, but when he came up empty handed he looked at her staff photo on the hospital website. If he chose to end things with Holly, he would have to move back to Holby, where he assumed by now everyone knew what Zoe had done. He hadn't even thought to ask her what people thought of him moving away. There were so many thoughts whirling around his head, and he realised Zoe was the only one who could answer any of them. She was also the only one who had ever been able to stop the thoughts in his head when he felt overwhelmed by them.

He glanced up the stairs, and then grabbed his car keys and left quietly through the front door.


	6. Chapter 6

Zoe was just settling down in bed when she heard her flat buzzer go off. As she pulled her dressing gown around her, she got up to see who it was that was visiting her at nearly midnight. She reached up for the phone and straight away heard Max's voice.

"Zoe, let me up."

Zoe said nothing but buzzed him in and then stood by the door as she waited for him. A couple of hours ago she thought she'd lost him for the third time, but now he was back. The knock on the door made her jump slightly as it brought her back from her thoughts.

"It's you Zoe. It's always you. Every day you're on my mind. I love you. I made a mistake when I left you, but I know that now." The words came tumbling out of his mouth, but it wasn't long before Zoe silenced him with a kiss.

"And what about everything else?" She asked when they finally pulled apart, their foreheads still resting against each other.

"I was hoping that you would have the answers." He sighed.

"Everyone already thinks I ruined things, max. If i get involved now..."

Max sighed and shut his eyes. "I know. I just can't seem to focus on anything but you."

"What's new?" Zoe asked lightly, making him grin.

"I just don't know what to do, Zo." He whispered as he pulled away and moved to the sofa.

"What are you thinking?" Zoe asked, as she went to the kettle, sensing that they'd both need a drink with caffeine in to keep them awake.

"I'm thinking of how hurt Holly would be, how much I love you, what I would do if I came back here. Where I would live, what would happen if we split up and what people would think."

"Okay, well let's take things one at a time. First of all, when has it ever bothered you what people think?"

Max opened and closed his mouth several times before he finally replied. "It's not me I'm worried about, it's you. I didn't tell people what happened because I didn't want them to think badly of you, and if it happened again..."

"It's not going to happen again, Max. I promise."

"You can't promise, Zoe. Surely you know yourself well enough by now to know that sometimes you do the worst thing possible."

"And I lost the best thing I'd ever had in my life as a result. I think I learnt my lesson, Max." She reassured him as she abandoned the kettle and immediately sat down beside him. "Holly would be upset if you chose me, but everyone gets upset when a relationship ends. You have to do what makes you happy."

"What about Robyn?" He asked anxiously.

"Do what makes you happy, and if that's me then she'll get over it at some point."

"Do you know what I want?" He asked, turning to face Zoe who shook her head. "I just want to lay beside you."

"Max, I don't want to start anything until you're sure and everything is sorted."

"I'm not going to start anything, I just want to lie beside you and just...think."

Zoe studied his face for a moment before finally nodding. "Here or the umm...bedroom?"

Without giving a reply, Max stood and took Zoe's hand, leading her towards the bedroom they used to share. Silently, he climbed onto bed and lay down before reaching out for Zoe once more.

They just lay there for a while, Zoe tucked up beside Max as they both remained silent. At some point through the night she'd fallen asleep, and for the first time since her wedding day she felt relaxed and content as she dropped off.

She wasn't at all surprised to find her bed empty when she awoke but it made her heart ache a little. As she rolled over to the side of the bed that Max had been on, she found a note. The words were blurry as she tried to read it, her eyes still not adjusted to the light.

* * *

"Did you sleep here all night?" Holly asked as she walked into the living room and found Max just opening his eyes.

"I must have, sorry. I didn't feel tired when you fell asleep and I didn't want to disturb you so I sat and watched TV here and must have fallen asleep."

"Silly! You know I don't mind when you wake me up, it only takes me a minute to get back to sleep. Coffee?"

"Ah, yeah, please." Max kissed Holly back guiltily when she passed him.

From the kitchen as she made the coffee, Holly called out- "I was thinking, why don't you show me around today? Robyn and Lofty could come too, because they have the day off."

Max gave no reply, looking down at his phone. He thought Zoe would be awake by now, yet she hadn't replied to the question in his note.

"Earth to Max." Holly appeared in the doorway.

"Sorry, what?"

"...Seeing her has really thrown you, hasn't it? I know what we can do- we can meet her for lunch, and talk over everything, try to be adults about all this."

He felt his heart sink as he tried to think of any way to get out of this, he felt sick with guilt and still he could only think of Zoe. He wondered if this was how she felt this time last year, when she'd stood in front of him and said 'I do'. "Not today, it's supposed to be my wedding anniversary today and yet it's a reminder of something I'd rather forget. Can we just not think about Zoe today?" He told her, not actually lying until he mentioned not thinking about Zoe.

"I'm sorry, I never thought about the date. We'll do anything you want and take your mind off it." Holly told him apologetically although she was slightly taken aback by his use of Zoe's name. Previously when she'd ever be mentioned it was Holly that brought her up and he'd only ever refer to Zoe as 'her'.

"Well why don't you hop in the shower, I'll make us breakfast and then we can make plans." Max suggested, wanting Holly to go back upstairs so that he could check his phone without her wondering what was going on.

"Are you saying I smell?" Holly asked playfully.

"You said it, not me." Max played along as Holly ran upstairs, leaving Max to immediately check his phone, which still had no messages.

Perhaps she'd forgotten his number, Max decided, and typed out a message, but deleted it without sending it. He'd told Zoe what he wanted, the ball was in her court now.

* * *

"Really? I make pancakes and you have plain toast?" Max asked Lofty a short time later with raised eyebrows.

"...I'm on a diet."

"What's her name?"

"No-one."

"Interesting name. It's not...it's not Robyn again, is it?"

Lofty sighed and pushed his toast around on his plate. "It's Jenny, that girl Zoe introduced me to at your..your...your sort of..when you.."

"Spit it out, Lofty! My wedding? Jenny that Zoe introduced you to at our wedding?"

"Yeah."

"Wouldn't have thought you'd have been her type." Max pointed out as he flipped another pancake, ready for Robyn and Holly coming back downstairs.

"And no one thought you'd be Zoe's type."

"Touché."

* * *

Zoe reached around for her phone, and found that it had limited battery, but enough to type her response. Finding Max's name she quickly wrote out her message.

 _Zoe: A year ago today I did the best thing I've ever done; I married you. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me, and despite spending the year apart, I realise just how much I love you. I know that getting back together will cause a lot of problems, but I agree that we can be happy again. I'm ready to face everything with you, so it's not a question of the ball being back in my court, but rather it being back in ours. My phone battery is about to die, but could we meet up later?_

The turmoil that she'd faced inside for the last year, the self-loathing and shame, all seemed to disappear as she pressed send. Finally everything seemed to be looking up and for the second time she believed that she could really have her happy ever after. She'd expected to feel guilty for what they were doing to Holly, but it never came, she was too consumed by the idea of her and Max again.

When Max's phone beeped, he was so wound up waiting that he dropped the pan and its red hot under side landed on his foot. His loud swearing brought Robyn and Holly quickly into the room where they stared at his rapidly swelling and reddening foot.


	7. Chapter 7

"I don't need to be here. I don't want to be here. And I don't need to be in this bloody chair. It doesn't even hurt anymore!" Max grumbled twenty minutes later as Lofty pushed him into the ED in a wheelchair.

"Max, that's not good. We will be in and out and then we can go and get an early pint or something. Rita! Are any cubicles free? You remember Max."

"Welcome back stranger! You disappeared so quickly from the pub that I never got to say hello." Rita smiled, as both Robyn and Holly looked down at Max in the wheelchair, but neither said anything. "Cubicle 5 is free. What have you done?" She asked, as she looked down at his swollen foot.

"I was being nice and cooking breakfast for everyone but I dropped the pan on my foot." Max explained as Rita peeled back the makeshift bandage that Robyn had put on it.

"Okay, well let me go and get some stuff and I'll come back and treat it." With the bandage now was off his foot, the full damage could be seen.

"Robyn, go and take Holly for a coffee. She's squeamish and doesn't need to see this. I'll be okay." Max finally spoke as he saw the pale shade that Holly had gone.

"Oh right, yeah, okay. Text me when you're done." Robyn told him as she led Holly and Lofty out of the cubicle, meaning that Max could finally read the text he hoped was from Zoe. As he read through it he couldn't stop the quickening of his heart and the smile that spread across his face.

When Rita returned, he tried to ask lightly, "Is Zoe working today?"

"...She is here, but I haven't said you're here so I can keep her away if you want me to?"

Max hesitated before replying, "Maybe...ah, I just remember that she's good with burns. A good looking chap like me needs the best."

Smiling, Rita nodded. "You haven't changed. I'll be back in a minute."

* * *

"Zoe, have you got a minute? I know you said you're only here for admin, but there's a guy in cubicles who wants to see you."

"Which one?" Zoe asked, sighing as she checked her phone once more and found nothing from Max.

"Go and see."

"I meant which cubicle."

"Oh, 5."

"I'll be right there."

* * *

Zoe wandered down the corridor little more than five minutes after Rita had called her. As she stood outside the cubicle she stopped, slightly wary of who was inside. Pulling back the curtain she saw the one person she wanted to see, but who hadn't made the list of who could be in the cubicle.

"Max? What have you done?!" She asked, shocked as she saw the state that his foot was in.

"I was cooking and waiting for you to text me- It spooked me when you replied and I dropped the pan on my foot."

"So it's my fault?" Zoe asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "In that case, I better make sure you get the best quality care."

"How about you kiss it better?" Max asked, only half joking.

"I'm not going anywhere near your foot with my lips." She laughed but placed a gentle kiss on his lips instead. "I meant what I said." She whispered.

"I know you did."

Max's hand played with Zoe's, their eyes locked, but when the cubicle curtain was pulled back open he dropped it reluctantly.

Robyn sighed when she saw Zoe. "Isn't there another doctor who can treat him?"

"I don't mind, Robyn." Max said softly, his eyes catching sight of the wedding ring still on Zoe's finger.

"Max, she can't-"

"Look, I don't care who treats me, Robyn, I just want to get out of here!" Max snapped

"Hey, calm down." Holly entered behind Robyn and put a hand on his shoulder, her eyes looking Zoe up and down.

"I'm just going to rub this gel in. It'll sting a bit, but it should soothe the burning a bit." Zoe said awkwardly, looking down at Max's foot instead of at anyone else.

* * *

"Okay, all done." Zoe smiled. "You'll need to see a nurse in a couple of days to get the bandage changed, and don't get it wet. Any problems, I'm sure Robyn can help."

As Holly helped Max off the bed and out of the cubicle, he looked back at Zoe and smiled at her.

"Stay away from him. He's happy with Holly, he's happy in Birmingham, he's happy without you." Robyn told Zoe, her voice laced with venom.

"Is he really? Maybe you should stop this hate agenda against me and ask Max what makes him happy and what he wants, because you might just get a shock."

"...What the hell are you trying to do to him?"

As Zoe opened her mouth to answer, Holly returned, giving an awkward smile as she picked up Max's jacket from the bed. "Listen...thanks. I don't imagine that could have been easy for you. Robyn's throwing a party tonight, perhaps you could come?"

"You're inviting _HER_? She is the reason we're having the party to celebrate that Max got away."

"Does Max know about the party?" Zoe asked, fiddling with her stethoscope.

"Of course he doesn't, because for some reason he likes to be civil to you, and I don't think he would approve of a 'piss off zoe' party."

Holly gave Zoe an apologetic, uncomfortable smile. "Robyn, Max said something about his bandage coming off." Holly lied, and watched as Robyn wandered off, muttering about Zoe as she left. "I'm sorry about Robyn, it's just a party to take his mind off of the divorce. You seem like a nice person, I know what happened between you and Max, but the invitation is there if you wanted to come."

"Thank you. I'll see what I'm doing." Zoe smiled and watched as Holly too walked out, leaving Zoe sat in silence.

As she wandered back to her office, she found the guilt that she'd expected earlier had now come full force.

* * *

 _Zoe: I'm not supposed to tell you, but Robyn is holding a party for you tonight to celebrate you getting rid of me._

* * *

Max didn't see the message until they'd arrived home and Robyn had him safely sat on the couch. "...You're not planning anything tonight are you Robyn?"

"What sort of thing?!" Robyn asked a little too sharply.

"I don't know...drinks or something. Because these pills are making my head spin and I don't fancy being the invalid sat in the corner all night."

"Speaking of pills, I'll just go to the chemist and get you those pain killers."

As Robyn rushed out, Holly reappeared with something for Max to rest his foot on. He tried and failed to reply to Zoe all day, because one or both of them were always with him, fussing over him, and any time he snapped at them they assumed he was just in pain. Though he'd resisted, Max finally took the offered painkillers and went to bed, hoping to sleep through whatever Robyn was planning.


	8. Chapter 8

As he slept, Max found himself back to where he'd been a year ago. He saw himself and Zoe smiling and laughing as they got married before it switched to them having their first dance. Instead of trying not to cry, they were laughing and kissing as they danced. This time it ended not with an explosion and heartbreak but in happy ever after. That was what he wanted.

* * *

Zoe looked at herself again in the mirror and yet again wondered why she was going to this. As she searched for a reason for going the only one she could come up with was that she was doing it to be close to Max.

* * *

"Max baby, do you want some food?" Holly asked softly as she appeared at the door to see Max just stirring.

"Mmm."

"I'll do you some dinner."

"What time is it?" He asked as he turned over to where Holly stood at the door.

"Ten to eight. You slept for a long time." Holly told him the time before she left, he suddenly clicked that the party was cancelled and then heard the doorbell go.

* * *

"Oh, I'm sorry Zoe. It's cancelled, we just had no way to let you know. We didn't expect you. Come in though." Max heard Holly from downstairs.

Hearing Zoe's name, Max jumped out of bed and stumbled towards the door, momentarily forgetting his crutches. Returning, he grabbed them and limped his way from the room.

"No, it's ok. You probably need to keep it quiet, Max never has been able to handle pain killers." Zoe attempted a smile for Holly before she caught sight of Max at the top of the stairs, his eyes slowly moving up her body from her shoes to her lips, where they rested before finally looking her in the eyes.

 _I need you._

As Max mouthed these words to Zoe, Holly gave a laugh. "I know. Look, Robyn has gone out with some friends, so why don't you come in and have dinner with me? We can talk."

"Erm." Zoe began and looked up at Max for guidance on what to do, but when he offered little guidance she was left to decide for herself.

"I can't really cook much but I can manage something, or we could order a takeaway if it came to it. I mean you've brought a bottle, your taxi is gone and you were here for the evening anyway." Holly told Zoe as she sensed that Zoe was taking a bit too long to reply. "I get that it's probably awkward but I could do with some company if I'm honest. Max is asleep, Robyn's gone out, god knows where Lofty is and I don't know anyone else here." Holly sighed, having not noticed Max's presence on the stairs behind her.

"Okay, but if we do this we skip the stress of cooking and go straight to takeaway." Zoe agreed, taking pity on the woman in front of her who was clearly lonely. Inside she felt bad when she knew that it wouldn't be long before Holly no longer had Max but it wasn't fair for Max to stay with her when he loved Zoe.

"I'm sure Robyn has some menus around here somewhere." Holly smiled as she stepped aside and let Zoe in.

"Bottom shelf in the cabinet under the tv, or they were when I lived here." Zoe pointed them out and smiled at the younger woman as she found what she was looking for. "I'm just nipping upstairs to the toilet."

* * *

"So, you're staying for a meal with Holly?" Max asked quietly as she appeared on the landing.

"You hardly offered any advice on the matter." Zoe pointed out.

"Sorry. I've missed you, I've had Robyn and Holly on my back all day so I couldn't text you."

"How is your foot?"

"It feels like its being poked by the devil."

At this, Zoe finally smiled. "Then go back to bed."

"No, I'll come downstairs. I'll talk to Holly or we could talk to her together."

Seeing max begin to sway, Zoe held out a hand to steady him. "Go back to bed, Max."

He gave a sigh and studied Zoe's face for a moment before nodding. "Sorry to leave you in an uncomfortable situation."

"I'm used to it. Bed, now."

"You look gorgeous, Zoe."

As these words came from Max's mouth, Holly appeared at the top of the stairs.

"What's going on?" Holly asked cautiously.

"He doesn't know what he's doing Holly." Zoe told her honestly. "Look he's swaying, he needs to go back to bed to sleep this off." While she knew that Max did mean what he was saying, she knew that he wasn't properly with it, and while it seemed like now he wanted to be honest, Zoe knew that he'd want to say things differently in the morning. Holly looked between them once more before she noticed just how reliant on Zoe's grip Max was to stand up right.

Between the two of them, they managed to get Max into bed with some difficulty but Zoe wasn't surprised to see him drop off easily when he was in bed.

* * *

"Is he going to be okay?" Holly asked, breaking the silence as they'd both been sipping at their glasses of wine while they waited for the takeaway to arrive.

"He'll be okay, the pain and swelling should go down in a couple of days and then he shouldn't be reliant on the pain killers."

Holly nodded and then thought to herself for a moment. "Do you still love him?" She finally asked what had been troubling her since she'd seen Max take a weird turn upstairs. Holly had seen the same worry in Zoe's eyes that she was sure was reflected in her own.

"...yes." zoe replied softly. "I never stopped."

"Then why did you do it? Why did you sleep with someone else?"

Zoe sighed and stared at her wine. "Because that's what i do. I get scared, overwhelmed and then i do something stupid."

"...well now you have the opportunity to make it right. You can sign the divorce papers and let Max go. He's held onto you for too long and its killing him, Zoe. Everywhere he goes, even in a complete different city, he is reminded of you."

"I erm...I think I made a mistake. I need to go." Zoe stuttered as she picked up her phone and left the house. The sound of the door shutting woke Max, who desperately hobbled to the top of the stairs to see what was going on.

"Where's Zoe?" Max asked. In his head he couldn't quite figure out what was going on. Everything seemed hazy and words seemed to be slipping out of his mouth without him thinking them over first.

"Gone. I told her that she needed to sign the divorce papers and get out of our lives." Holly told him softly as she moved to sit next to Max at the top of the stairs. She took his hand in hers and smiled despite the fact that Max's hand was shaking and worrying her. "It'll be over soon."

"I don't want it to be over. I love Zoe."

"What?"

As Holly whispered the words, Max's eyes began to roll back in their sockets. "Max?!" She shook him by the shoulders, but he just fell back, struggling to stay conscious. After a few seconds panic, Holly rushed down the stairs and out the door. "Zoe!"


	9. Chapter 9

Zoe quickened her pace, trying to locate her car through the tears in her eyes.

"Zoe! It's Max. Something is wrong, I don't know what to do!"

"What?" Zoe asked, wiping away the tears from her face before she turned to face Max's girlfriend.

"His eyes were rolling and then he fell backwards." Holly explained as she began to cry too.

"Okay, phone an ambulance and then Robyn had a medical kit in the cupboard under the stairs, can you get that for me? I'll go and see what I can do." Zoe briefed Holly before she ran into the house, she paused for a second and felt her heart break again as she saw Max's limp body laying at the top of the stairs. Running up the stairs, she yet again struggled to keep the tears back but crouched down beside Max. His pulse was still there and strong and his breathing was okay, all she could do was hold him still until the ambulance arrived.

"Is this some sort of test? You always had a weird sort of humour. Is this you testing whether I'd stay with you when it got difficult? Because I always will, I love you, Max." Zoe told him as she gently ran her hand across his cheek, stopping only when she heard Holly clear her throat behind her.

"This is all I could find." Holly told Zoe as she passed her a small medical bag.

Zoe took the bag from her and rummaged through it. "Has he been sick that you know of?"

Holly shook her head, crossing her arms around herself.

As Zoe took Max's temperature, his eyes flickered open and shut again.

"Max. Max, open your eyes again." When they flickered but didn't open, Zoe glanced towards Holly before trying again. "Max, you remember that day I was a porter, and you tried your french on me? Well, I lied. It did work. It worked every time."

Now there was a flicker of a smile on Max's lips.

"Holly, his temperature is way too high. Can you see if there is any ice, or anything really cold you can find."

Holly nodded and rushed back down the stairs.

"You remember when I told you that some flames weren't meant to go out? I really did mean it. Maybe that's why it's always each other that we run back to." Zoe recounted. Thinking back through their memories, she told him everything that she could to try and make him smile again.

"I have a cold flannel and an ice pack. Which is better?" Holly asked as she placed both into Zoe's hands.

"We can use both. Wrap the flannel around the ice pack and put it on his forehead. I'll go and let the ambulance people in, keep that to his forehead even if he starts to squirm."

* * *

"Zoe? What's happened?" Dixie asked as she entered the house.

"It's Max."

"He's back?"

Zoe nodded, leading Dixie inside as she recounted what had happened. When they arrived at the top of the stairs, Max's eyes were partly open, and when he saw the yellow of Dixie's jacket, he began to panic. "Zoe!"

"It's ok, Max, calm down." Holly urged, keep the ice pack firmly against his forehead as Max continued to thrash against the cold water that dripped down his temples.

"Zoe has been in the water, someone help her! Someone do something!" As Max struggled, Dixie glanced at Zoe then squatted down.

"It's alright, mate. Zoe is fine. What's happened to you? Have you been in the wars, then?"

"Save Zoe! She's cold and she's wet and it's our wedding day, it wasn't supposed to end this way!" Max told her as he felt cold water run down his forehead.

"Max, I'm here and I'm okay." Zoe smiled as she took his hand and sat down close to him where he could see her but where she wasn't in the way of the paramedics. "I'm worried about him Dix, it was just a burn this morning. Pain killers make him go funny but I haven't seen him like this. Holly, did he bang his head when he fell?" Zoe asked, wondering how she hadn't twigged before now and cursed herself slightly that when it mattered most, she had missed a crucial piece of information.

"I...I don't know." Holly answered honestly.

"Okay, let's get him in." Dixie told Zoe as they got him onto a stretcher.

"Erm, I'll stay here and ring Robyn. I'll come in with her later, you go in the ambulance." Holly told them quietly as she knew what was coming and she was trying to ease her own heartbreak.

Zoe gave her an apologetic smile as she walked out with Max, but was too focused on him to offer any comfort to Holly. She kept a tight hold on Max's hand as he was loaded into the ambulance.

* * *

Holly wiped the tears from her face as she called Robyn.

Giving her friend an apologetic smile, Robyn answered the phone. "Holly?"

"It's Max." This was all she could manage before she burst into tears.

"What's Max?"

"...He still loves her."

Robyn frowned, covering her ear to try and block out the background noise, sure she had misheard. "Holly?"

"He's been taken to hospital. He has a really high fever." Holly managed.

"What are the doctors saying?" Robyn asked, as she collected her bag and coat and made for the exit of the club.

"I don't know, I'm not there." Holly admitted.

"Why? Being in hospital is scary, he might seem like he's laid back but he'll freak out when he wakes up. What happened anyway?"

"He doesn't want me, he wants Zoe. He collapsed and he was talking about them needing to save Zoe from the water when he came round." Holly told Robyn as she burst out sobbing again.

"Get a taxi and I'll meet you at the hospital."

* * *

"Are you two back together?" Dixie asked as she took Max's blood pressure in the back of the ambulance.

"I'm not sure." Zoe told her friend honestly. "We spoke about it, we love each other but he has a girlfriend."

"Who he pretty much just told that she is irrelevant."

"Zoe." Max mumbled through his oxygen mask before reaching up to try and take it off. She leant forward and held it onto him.

"I'm here, Max. It's ok, just try and relax.'

Max shook his head and reached out to her, taking hold of the chain around her neck on which rested her wedding ring. When he mumbled something else, Zoe frowned. "...You want me to put it on?"

Max nodded, his hand falling back onto the bed as though it had been a great effort to lift his hand.

Dixie raised her eyebrows. "Well, I think that answers my question."


	10. Chapter 10

The ambulance came to stop outside of the ED entrance and immediately Max was wheeled out and into the ED with Zoe following behind.

"This is Max Walker, he's 31 and has suffered a queried head injury. He's confused, temperature is high at 39. Blood pressure 140/93 and pulse is 80." Dixie explained as she handed him over to Connie and transferred him into resus.

"Zoe, you know you can't come in here." Connie warned as Zoe tried to follow them.

"Please, I can't leave him." Zoe begged, tears clouding her vision as she saw the nurses begin to work on him.

"You know you can't." Connie told her, and then left her staring through the window of resus.

"This is your fault." Robyn hissed as she appeared next to Zoe with Holly not far behind.

Zoe turned to her with shock and glanced at Holly. "I didn't mean for this to happen."

Hearing the tone of Zoe's voice, though he couldn't hear what she was saying, Max tried to take his mask off again. "Zoe!"

"You did! You know just what to do to get him to drop everyone else, just like last time. Well, guess what? You're no longer his next of kin, so please leave the room." Robyn stared at Zoe, hands on hips.

"But-" Zoe began.

"Take her out, please." Robyn asked security.

"Zoe!" Max tried again, struggling as Dixie held him down once more. "Zoe, just go wait in your office." Connie demanded strongly.

"I'm not leaving him." Zoe stressed. "You might not like me Robyn, but I'm still his wife and I have a right to be here. I'm sorry for what happened last year but maybe it's time you got over it. Max has and it was him that I hurt, not you. I'm sorry Holly, you didn't deserve this but I think you know where this is going. Just know that he didn't cheat on you. Now I'm staying here and you're going to have to put up and shut up Robyn, because right now I think it'll be worse for Max's health if I was to leave." She finished as she stared at Robyn, waiting for her to argue back but she never did.

"Fine. Stay but this isn't over Zoe. As soon as he's better he'll start to think straight again and realise what a screw up you are."

"Maybe he will, but that's his choice and I'll be here until then."

* * *

"Can we get him to CT please?" Connie asked quietly, trying not to let Zoe or Robyn hear what was going on.

When Zoe was back in his sights, Max calmed a little, but when Rita saw his lips moving, she moved closer and said softly, "What's that, Max?"

"I don't feel too good, mate."

She rested a hand to his shoulder, rubbing it gently. "I know, but we're going to make you feel better, you just need to stay calm."

"Will you look after Zoe for me?"

Rita glanced up at Zoe and saw by her expression that she'd heard this. "I will, not that you'll need me to because you can do that yourself soon enough."

Unable to look at Zoe, Max pulled his mask aside again. He hoped Zoe understood how he felt and what he was trying to do. In his mind, he wasn't going to last for much longer, and he didn't want to leave knowing he'd hurt the woman who had basically looked after him for the last year. "Holly. Where's Holly? I need her."

Zoe looked back at Max, worry beginning to kick in already as all she could do was stare at the man whom she thought she'd won back.

"See, he's already come to his senses." Robyn whispered to Zoe, venom dripping from her voice as she spoke. Despite knowing inside that Max loved her, the current situation was fragmenting Zoe's heart.

"Are you sure Max? Zoe, your wife, is here." Rita reminded him quietly, but Max kept his gaze at a single spot on the ceiling.

"I'll go and get her." Robyn spoke happily before she turned to Zoe. "I expect you to be gone when I get back. You are neither wanted nor needed here."

As Robyn exited the room, Zoe rushed towards the bed where her husband lay. Finally his gaze met hers as he turned slightly.

"Max." Zoe whispered, the love that she knew was present in her eyes was reflected in Max's as she stared at him.

"I'm sorry." Max replied softly. "She-" Max wanted to explain what he was trying to do, that he thought he was going to die and he owed the woman who'd worked so hard to bring him happiness when he didn't think he'd ever feel it again, but he was too breathless.

"His fever is getting worse, Zoe." Rita spoke softly, feeling she was intruding in something important.

Zoe glanced up at her colleague and then back down at Max as he reached out and once more held the wedding ring that dangled from the chain around her neck. "Mrs Walker."

When Holly rushed into the room, Max's hand dropped from Zoe, but his eyes lingered on hers, only moving when Holly grabbed his hand.

Zoe looked down at Max's hand and then at his eyes before she looked back up at the various machines that were monitoring her husband.

"Okay, I need a litre of saline putting in to try and flush the painkillers out of his system. I need that CT scan rushed through and I think we need to sedate him to try and limit any damage." Zoe ordered before she begun to falter slightly until Rita gave a slight nod.

"Max, I love you and I'll be here when you wake up baby." Holly told him. Robyn finally came forward now that she realised that this could be serious and looked up at Zoe.

"Is he going to be okay?" She asked anxiously.

"I'm going to do all that I can to make sure that he is Robyn."

A porter entered the room seconds later and Max was taken away to CT, with Holly and Robyn following behind.

"It's not Holly that he wants Zoe, but he doesn't think he's going to make it. He was trying to explain but he couldn't get the words out, just ignore Robyn and stick with it."

"Do you really think so?" Zoe asked Rita softly.

"I know so, Zoe. Max has always loved you, that's why he had to leave and it was the reason he came back. Have you not noticed the similarities between you and Holly? You could be sisters."

Zoe let out a long sigh and watched Max being wheeled away.

Max began to feel disorientated, lights flashing past him overhead, and soon he began to feel like he was floating. He knew he was about to pass out when his heart began to race. He opened his mouth to call to Zoe again, panicked now, but he passed out before the word could leave his lips.


	11. Chapter 11

Zoe stood pacing in the space where her husband's bed had been in resus. Surprisingly, the space around her was empty and even Rita had left her to her own devices. As she paced she considered the events of the past few days and the whirlwind that her life had suddenly become. Rita's words went round and around in her head as she carefully thought about them. The ring around her neck felt cold around her neck but she felt a comfort from knowing that Max had wanted her to wear it again.

What felt like a lifetime passed before Max was wheeled back into the room, but in reality it had been little more than twenty minutes. Rita followed behind the bed and held the iPad containing the scan photos. Zoe looked down at the bed and felt her heart crack a little as she saw the love of her life sedated on her orders. Somehow she knew that she had to make him okay again, whatever the cost, and then make him see that it was her that he needed, not some knock off of her.

"Zoe." Rita broke the silence, causing the three women in Max's life to look over at her. Nothing more was said as Zoe held out of hands for the iPad and then studied the photos that were in front of her.

* * *

Max had been sedated for over 24 hours now and Zoe had stayed at or close by his side the whole time, through the looks and the whispers.

Now she sat alone in a room with only Max and Holly.

"He still had your photo."

Zoe woke with a start when Holly spoke. "What?"

"He still had your photo, he kept in his bedside draw. He didn't like me to be in his bedroom...we never even had sex because he said he'd been hurt so much by you that he wanted to make sure of me before he committed. I thought it was sweet for him to show how vulnerable he was until one day he had the flu and I opened his top draw to find pain killers. Your photo was right on top, and this was next to it." Holly reached into her pocket and held out Max's wedding ring. "It's not me that he wants, it's you. It always was you." Holly sighed. "I guess somewhere deep down I knew that he never really wanted me, but I figured that he was so angry at you that we wouldn't see you and that he'd keep away if we did. I was happy to be second best but I was convinced that he loved me too, and maybe somewhere inside he did but it wasn't enough."

"I'm sorry Holly. I never expected this to happen and I'm sure Max didn't either, but right now I'm not even sure that it's me he wants. I didn't know that he missed me or that I'd damaged him so much."

"He does want you, I think by asking for me he was trying to do the right thing. We both know what a gentleman he can be, and that was just another in the long line of examples. I allowed myself to hope that he'd changed his mind, but I saw him gripping you and say your name before I walked in. There was so much love in his voice, something I've never heard when he said my name. When he wakes up, I'll say my goodbyes and then I'll get out of your way. Ignore Robyn, she doesn't really hate you. I've known her a matter of days and already I can tell how much she admires you."

Zoe wasn't quite sure why Holly was being so nice, she was positive that if the situation was the other way round that she'd be tearing the younger woman's hair out before giving Max a good kick where it hurts when he woke up. The only explanation that she could reach was that Holly was being genuine and as a result was a much better person than herself. "...Thank you." Zoe said softly. "I...If it makes it any easier, I'm not going to hurt him ever again, and I'm going to spend the rest of forever trying to make up for what I did."

Holly gave a half hearted smile and pushed herself to her feet as the doctor appeared. "I'll go and get us some coffees."

"Aren't you next of kin?" The doctor frowned at Holly as she made her way towards the door.

Close to tears, she shook her head and motioned to Zoe before rushing from the room.

"How is he?"

"The swelling in his brain has started going down, and it doesn't look like the medication has done any permanent damage. We're going to keep him sedated for another 24 hours, and then we'll try waking him up."

"What about his memory?" Zoe asked, anxious that Max wouldn't remember the last few days.

"We can't know until he wakes up, but we're confident that he will have no problem in remembering anything before the burn." The doctor told her. "The nurses will continue to do hourly obs, but I'll be back this time tomorrow to reverse the sedation." Zoe breathed a sigh of relief as the doctor left the room, leaving her alone with Max once again.

"You always were overly dramatic." Zoe laughed slightly, although she was hurting inside. "You chose well with Holly, I'm sorry that I messed that up for you. I promise that this time I won't hurt you, we'll go back to the good times we had but this time I'll let you in. We can be Mr and Mrs Walker, the ones who got their fairytale ending, the ones who were happy ever after." She looked down, half of her hoped for some sort of reaction to let her know that it was what he wanted to, or just to let her know that she wasn't talking to herself. The medical side of her reminded her that even if he could hear her, that he couldn't react as she'd sedated him. The cool of the metal band in her hand made her smile as she looked down and read the inscription on the ring.

 _Max Walker- my life, my everything_.

Reaching for Max's hand, she slipped the band back around his ring finger and smiled. No matter how unconventional they were in the way they got things done, they always came together in the end. Whether it was some sort of fate or a series of chemicals in the body, Zoe and Max were always meant to be and always would find a way of being together.

* * *

Holly stayed for the next 24 hours but barely spoke, only chatting quietly to Robyn whenever she appeared.

When the doctor finally arrived to reverse the sedation, Holly, Lofty, Zoe, Robyn and Greta all stood around the room watching Max's face anxiously.

"His hand moved!" Robyn suddenly yelled.

"It doesn't happen that quickly, Robyn." Zoe said gently, and got a glare for her trouble.

"You'd know, of course."

She was going to point out that Robyn would also know this if she took a step back from the situation, but as she looked at the women surrounding her who didn't particularly like her, she held it in. Silence once again descended on the room, all eyes were fixed on Max as they watched closely for any sign of movement.

For twenty minutes, the attempt to bring him back round had been hopeless. Despite Robyn claiming to have seen movement multiple times, in reality there hadn't been. The doctor was called and informed that the attempt had failed but as he stood over Max, Zoe caught sight of his eyelids fluttering.

"Wait, he moved." Zoe told the others just as the doctor was about to put an end to the procedure.

"Are you sure Dr Hanna?" The doctor asked, wondering if it was wishful thinking on behalf of the consultant.

"His eyelids keep fluttering, watch."

Max had heard Zoe's voice and knew there was something he needed to say to her, but he couldn't seem to get his mouth to form the words. Finally, he managed to open his mouth.

Seeing he was about to speak, Robyn pushed Zoe out of the way and bent down towards Max. "Try and speak, Max. Open your eyes."

"it's too much for him to do at once." Zoe said softly.

"Did I ask you?" Robyn snapped.

Forcing himself to focus, Max finally got his eyes open, and they fell straight on Zoe.

Zoe stood just behind Robyn and smiled at her husband, who looked more vulnerable than she'd ever seen him. As he opened his mouth and found no words coming out, he panicked slightly.

"He needs some water." Zoe said softly as she realised that Max's throat was perhaps too dry to get his words out. At Zoe's words Greta moved forward and poured her only son a glass of water, before pushing Zoe out of the way to hand the plastic cup to Max.

"Zoe." Max finally croaked as he sipped at the water he'd been handed. At hearing her name, she moved forward again and reached for his hand. Holly stood at the back of the room, unwilling to intrude on the moment.

"Don't speak Max, just rest. You're okay, and we'll be here for you to speak later. I'm not going anywhere, I love you." Max looked up at her and then around his family and Lofty before his eyes finally fell upon Holly. More than anything he wanted to speak to them but exhaustion clouded his brain and pulled at his eyes until finally they were shut again.


	12. Chapter 12

"What's going on? Is he okay?" Greta asked as she looked at her son, who's hand was still linked with his cheating wife's.

"He's fine. Sedation knocks you out, it doesn't refresh you. He's just asleep and then when he wakes up later he should be back to normal." Zoe informed her mother in law, who still looked less than impressed with her being back in Max's life. "I know you don't like me and honestly I don't blame you, I'd hate me if it was my son. What I did was a mistake and if I could change anything in my life then it would be that, but I love Max and he loves me. This time we're going to be happy. I know what I lost when I lost Max- I lost my world, I lost the love of my life and I lost my happiness, because that was Max. I'm not going to give that up a third time."

"Yes, happy until you hurt him again." Greta mumbled.

Support suddenly came from an unexpected corner. "That's not fair, Greta. What went on between the two of them is no one elses business, and if he wants to forgive her, then we need to support that or we will lose him." Robyn said softly, not looking at Zoe.

Greta gave a sigh and glanced at Max and then at Zoe. "I'm going to go and pick up some clothes and things for Max. When I get back, I want you to be gone."

As she breezed out, Zoe took a deep breath and looked towards Robyn. "Thank you."

"I hate greta more than I hate you. And I, unlike some, actually love Max and want him to be happy, so when you make a mistake, which you will, I want to be there to help him get over you once and for all. Come on, Holly. We will go and get something to eat."

As Robyn pulled Holly from the room, Lofty gave Zoe an awkward smile. "I might go as well, I have a shift soon. But I'll be back later. And for the record, I'm still all for Zax getting back together."

Max opened his eyes again as soon as he heard quiet in the room. "Are they all gone?" He asked softly.

"Yeah." Zoe replied smiling. "I thought you were asleep."

"Well have you ever tried sleeping when people were literally arguing over you?" He asked playfully. "I don't care what mum said, she didn't like you last time round so her opinion is irrelevant and I don't want you to leave, unless you want to."

"Are you not getting bored of me?" She joked.

"I've been in some other world, whilst you were in this world doing certain things, and I can only assume you were where you are now, but I wasn't in this world to verify that and get bored of you."

"A simple no would have sufficed." She laughed and squeezed his hand a little tighter.

"So am I dying?" He asked, a serious feel descending on the room, in stark contrast to the playful air that had been present seconds before.

"No, you're going to be okay."

"That's a shame, I was looking forward to milking that."

Zoe smiled, tears suddenly shining in her eyes. "Max." It was all she could manage to get out, her voice breaking with emotion.

Max reached out his free hand and cupped Zoe's face, bringing it down to kiss to give her a gentle kiss, the hand that held hers gripping it as tightly as he could manage. "Marry me?"

"What?" Zoe whispered back, wiping at her eyes to try and get rid of the tears that seemed to refuse to stop coming.

"Marry me."

Robyn walked in at this moment, about to announce that Holly had gone back for a nap, but she walked in to Max asking Zoe to marry him. Quietly she remained at the door and neither seemed to notice her presence in the room, both seemingly too wrapped up in their conversation.

"We're already married Max, don't you remember?" Zoe asked, concern growing at the thought that Max's memory might have gone.

"Of course I remember, but we can renew our vows. So Zoe, will you marry me again?" He asked as he reached up and took the necklace from around Zoe's neck and removed her wedding ring from it. Holding the ring in front of her, he just stared into her eyes as he waited for a response.

"Are you sure you want this?" Zoe asked quietly, not quite able to believe that in a matter of days Max had come back into her life, told her that he still loved her and proposed.

"Have I not proved that yet?" He asked, genuinely wondering what else he could do.

"You have, I just can't get my head around it. You need to talk to Holly but of course I'll marry you again."

Max was about to slip the wedding ring on when he suddenly hesitated and Zoe's heart begin to race. "This is wrong."

"What?" Zoe asked in almost a whisper.

"This time around you need an engagement ring. A proper one."

Zoe smiled and lowered her head to capture Max's lips. The fact she could kiss him whenever she wanted made her feel happier than she had in months. This time, she wouldn't do anything to ruin it. "That sounds perfect, but right now you need to sleep."

Max raised his eyebrows and gave Zoe a smile she knew well. Biting her lip, she shook her head with a smile and was about to speak when Robyn cleared her throat.

"How are you feeling?" Robyn asked as she approached the bed.

"Tired, a bit achy but not too bad." Max answered, a smile spreading across his face as he saw Robyn smile at Zoe.

"Sleep then, we'll leave you to it. Zoe needs to eat and then we'll be back. Holly's at home as well, she knows it's over but she wants to say goodbye before she goes back to Birmingham." Robyn explained.

"Yeah, we'll be back soon. Try and actually sleep this time." Zoe laughed before she kissed him again and left.


	13. Chapter 13

"Thank you for trying Robyn." Zoe finally broke the silence as they sat in the hospital cafe each nursing their own coffee.

"I can see that Max is happy and deep down I always knew that you were sorry. If you hurt him again though I will let you no where near him."

"Thank you. It means a lot to me to know that you don't hate me anymore."

"So..." Robyn started, wondering whether it was the right time to bring up what she wanted to say, before she decided that it was. "Wedding plans?"

Zoe smiled at this. "You heard?" When Robyn nodded, Zoe took a sip of coffee before saying, "I want to plan it all this time. I want to do it all right, Robyn."

"Well, in that case you'll need a maid of honour to help you out."

"I wonder where I can get one of those?"

"I could probably be free..."

* * *

Holly waited until Zoe and Robyn left before she walked slowly into Max's room and walked over to his bed before wiping the tears from her cheeks. She didn't want to look upset, she didn't want him to feel bad. "Max?"

Max had never been a particularly heavy sleeper and woke as soon as he heard his name. Slowly he opened his eyes, and let them readjust to the light in the room. As he sat up slightly, he noticed Holly in the corner of the room with her hand on the door handle. Internally he debated whether to quickly pretend to be asleep again but in seconds he decided to do the right thing.

"Holly?" He asked, exhaustion obvious in his voice as he tried to clear his brain.

"I thought you were asleep, I was going to leave you to it." Holly replied honestly as she wiped at the newly forming tears in her eyes.

"Stay." He told her simply. "I need to say a lot to you, but I need to start by telling you that I am so sorry about what happened this week. I never meant for it to happen, but I love Zoe. I do really deeply care for you and I thought I was over Zoe but I just can't get her out of my head."

Holly nodded, and after a moment she took a few steps back towards Max. "I understand. At least, sort of. When I saw the way you two look at each other...there's a guy I went to school with, and he always looked at me that way, but I didn't think he was good enough for me. He has a shit job, he never has any money..."

"Sounds like me."

Holly gave a small smile. "Then you two showed me that sometimes differences work in people's favour. So I called him, and when I get back we're going to see how it goes."

"Then why the tears?" Max asked softly.

"Because...I have really loved this last year, Max. You were like a breath of fresh air in my life, you helped me see everything differently, and that will be gone when you go."

"Who said I will go anywhere?"

"...You'll move back to Holby, wont you?"

"That doesn't mean we can't spend time together or have ridiculous Skype conversations at 3am about what you need to wear to work to impress that boss of yours into giving you a promotions."

"Friends?" Holly asked. She had not been expecting this but she was willing to take it.

"Exactly. Maybe in time you can come and stay, I'm sure you and Zoe would get on well."

"I like the sound of that. Thank you for everything Max. You've taught me so much about life, who knows what I'd be doing if I hadn't met you."

"I hope it goes well with this guy, remind him that he's lucky to have you." Max told her as he beckoned Holly to move closer for a friendly hug.

"Thank you, good luck with your fairytale ending."

* * *

"Zoe, wait." Robyn said, catching Zoe's arm as she went to walk back into Max's ward. "Holly's in there."

Robyn saw the flashes of worry and jealousy cross Zoe's face and put a hand to her arm. "They're just saying goodbye."

Zoe released a slow breath and rested against the wall, watching Max's door until Holly exited and walked towards them. She paused for a moment when she saw them standing there and then walked up to Robyn and pulled her into a hug. "Thanks for everything. Let me know how he recovers, and he said you need to send me a video of him trying to use crutches on the stairs."

Robyn smiled. "I promise. I'm sorry it all turned out like this."

Holly gave a small smile back, then glanced at Zoe. "...He's a good guy, Zoe. Don't hurt him again."

"I wont."

Holly nodded and then glanced back at Max's door before she walked away.

Just as Zoe was about to enter the ward Greta appeared again with a suitcase of Max's clothes and a small bag.

"I thought I told you to be gone when I got back." She pointed out coolly as she walked straight past Robyn and Zoe and into see Max. In the room she placed his suitcase to one side before handing Max the smaller bag.

"So where is she then? I need to get to know my new daughter in law." Greta smiled happily as she passed Max the bag with the engagement ring inside. When he'd texted his mum with specifications for an engagement ring, she'd assumed that her son had come to his senses and was proposing to Holly.

"You already know her."

Greta looked confused at her sons words but it made sense as Max opened his mouth again.

"Your daughter in law is at the door."

Greta turned slightly to see the door, hoping that Holly would be there, but instead she saw Zoe.

"Zo." Max beckoned and cautiously she walked towards them.

"How are you feeling?" She asked as she passed him a bottle of juice and a piece of fruit.

"Terrible." Max reached out for Zoe's hand, and after a glance at Greta, Zoe let him take it.

"Zoe, we have tried every permutation of this relationship. On, off, lovers, secret lovers, but there's one thing we haven't tried."

"What?" Zoe asked gently, tears already beginning in her eyes as he hand gripped tightly to Max's.

"Don't do this now, Max. you're not thinking straight, you've just come out of sedation!" Greta exclaimed, desperate to stop what she knew was about to happen.

He didn't even take his eyes off Zoe as his mum spoke, ignoring every word she said he continued on his emotional admissions. "We haven't tried being a married couple. Sure we got married but we never actually tried being a married couple. That being said, Zoe Walker, will you marry me again?" He asked, looking up at her. This was his second proposal and as he thought about this, he figured that neither had been particularly romantic and had both come from an emotional day.

Zoe could see Greta out of the corner of her eye and couldn't miss the evil glare that was being directed at her. "I'd never missed anyone as much as I did you when you walked out of my life. I caused so much misery but I will be eternally grateful that you took me back after everything. You mean everything to me, so of course I'll marry you again. I honestly can't think of anything I'd rather do." She beamed as Max slipped her new engagement ring onto her finger and then put her wedding ring back on.

"I can think of a couple of things." Max whispered as he leaned forward to reach her ear.

Ignoring what he was saying she leant back again and slipped her hand into her pocket for the ring that she'd left in there earlier. Reaching for Max's hand, she slipped the band back around his ring finger and smiled. No matter how unconventional they were in the way they got things done, they always came together in the end. Whether it was some sort of fate or a series of chemicals in the body, Zoe and Max were always meant to be and always would find a way of being together.


End file.
